January 2, 2009

Vietnam and Japan to boost seafood trade with FTA

A new free trade agreement between Vietnam and Japan will give local agriculture and seafood product exporters more opportunities to enter the Japanese market due to lower tariffs, Vietnamese officials said.

Under the agreement, Vietnam will get duty-free access to the Japanese market for 7,264 of the 9,111 products it exports to Japan.

Ministry of Industry and Trade's Multilateral Trade Policy Department senior official, Le Quang Lan said Vietnamese shrimp, for instance, would no longer be taxed once the agreement takes effect.

Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Processors (VASEP) secretary general, Truong Dinh Hoe said Vietnam exported US$785 million worth of aquaculture products to Japan in 2008 and the duty-free access for many products means local exporters will be able to ship more next year.

Lan said local exporters of farm and aquatic products would also need to pay more attention to the quality of their products as they would have to meet many strict requirements to enter the Japanese market.

VASEP's Hoe said all seafood products must pass antibiotic residue tests before they are allowed to enter the Japanese market.

Japan and Vietnam signed the Economic Partnership Agreement on Thursday (Jan 1) with a promise to cut tariffs on 92 percent of goods and services they trade within a decade.

Vietnam's exports to Japan last year were worth US$6.14 billion, while imports from Japan totalled US$6.12 billion.

Bilateral trade is expected to top US$15 billion this year.